RLGaming.com

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010 ... mpaign=rss
its due out in a week or so
And hey its a game I WILL be getting. Yes Startrack is chewing up time but this is one I can make time for lol. Also got to play more borderlands lol

I have it preordered; Gamestop says it ships on 3/2/10. I'm REALLY looking forward to playing it.

i also preordered - release-date-delivery from Amazon woot

I guess I will ahve to see what best buy and such near me doing for pre orders lol

I read in a review that Steam has a demo for SC2. Hmmmm....

Softball wrote:I read in a review that Steam has a demo for SC2. Hmmmm....

I saw that last night but said not worth it, getting it soon

so i played the demo last night, until 10:30 (late for me). so that means i must have liked it.

what has kept all of you playing the game? it seems it might get boring?

what is different about this vs WiC? i know some of the mechanics are different, which i actually like and have alway wanted in a RTS (the zoom way out stuff, this is the only one i know if that does it), but it seems kinda cartooney and has my typical complaints of being too abstract for combat (probably not to be helped in an RTS, seems they are all like that).

compared with WIC? Similar, but bigger. I'm not familiar with the demo and I haven't played too much of SC2, but SC is much larger scale. There are more combinations of units you can use to put your strategy into effect. There are more strategic options and countermeasures to those options (where in wic, a nuke could just drop on you with no warning, in SC you can build missile defense.). I'd say WIC is more focused on the tactical level, small groups of troops that you micro manage and SC is more strategic, large groups that you need to make sure have the right capabilities.


In the campaign that Im going through now with SC2, it seems a little cartoony. If that's the demo, then I understand. I'm just waiting til we get into the skirmishes- there should be nothing cartoony there. just big fights.

Multiplayer is where SC and SC2 shines. I'll be honest here, I think I only played about 4 or 5 missions from the original SC campaign. The rest of my game time was MP only.

SC2 is a lot different than SC IMO, mostly in regards to the micro-management. In SC there was a LOT more micro-management to do and in SC2 it's all about the combat. SC2 opens up the endgame units at a much faster pace, as you can get through the research tech tree pretty quickly to get to the experimentals. You build your research facilities (buildings) and save up your accumulated research points, and you can unlock one of the many new experimentals in SC2. For example, Ghost and I played a game the other night and within 30-40 minutes, a nuke was headed my way. This would not happen in the original SC until at least an hour+ had passed, nuke silos and missiles took a good 30 minutes to build, and you had to have Tech III engineers to do it.

I have my last two finals of this quarter tonight and tomorrow, then I'll have a bit more breathing room for gaming. I definately want to get some more SC2 time in, we need to figure out the new AI and that takes playing time.

BTW, I still have not received my pre-ordered copy of SC2. Gamestop.com sent me a shipping email on Wednesday and it still has not arrived. Good going Gamestop....idiots.

DLC available on Steam for 9.99

anyone interested in getting it?

What is the DLC? Please say new maps...

EDIT: Looks like I'll be getting this tonight. Here is what is included:


About the Game

Get ready for some awesome new features and upgrades developed by Chris Taylor and the team at Gas Powered Games - The Infinite War Battle Pack for SUPREME COMMANDER® 2 featuring a whole host of new maps, units, experimentals, tech tree upgrades, and boosts for PC!
Maps:

* Way Station Zeta (4 player map) – This installation sits high above the surface of Gradius IV. Decommissioned after the Seraphim invasion, it served as a staging area for Cybran forces during the Infinite War.

* Rigs (4 player map) – Many years ago, people harvested organic fuel from pockets beneath the seas of Pegasus II. Companies erected massive rigs that now sit on the surface of the water. It takes a cunning balance of sea and air to control the mass that remains on these ancient platforms.

* Etched Desert (8 player map) – As water on this desolate landscape receded due to decades of environmental exploitation on its surface, mass rich deposits were discovered among the remaining eroded mesas. With plenty of area to explore and hide, the battles here have raged for millennia.

* Desolatia (2 player map) – This tiny island can be found in the most remote parts of the Hermetic Seas on Trexxa VI. Its average seasonal temperatures reach well below zero, making it uninhabitable by humans. Its mass deposits, however, give it unparalleled military value.

* Seraphim Isles (8 player map) – The Isles were discovered by a second group of settlers who made contact with the alien Seraphim race. Legend has it that the two coexisted for many years; others claim the Seraphim eliminated them on sight. Nothing remains today of either race but the mountain in the center of the primary island holds a forgotten mystery for Coalition scientists.

* Igneous (6 player map) – The islands called Igneous were named for their strange rock formations. They remain one of the more "alien" regions on Rigel II, and one of the less popular areas for colonizing even though they're rich in mass deposits.
* QAI Labs (2 player map) – Located high above the surface of Pollux IV, this is one of the many test environments used by noted technology company Quantum Visionworks, a division of QAI Industries.

* Tourneydome (8 player map) – Among relics of a city that stretches to the horizons lies an arena where the Coalition's best do battle. A system long abandoned by the Coalition, when commanders enter, only one leaves.

Units

* Cybran Monkeylord: Experimental Spider Bot: The beloved SUPREME COMMANDER experimental makes its return with a legged creature that features a powerful laser mounted on top of the body. If this unit makes it to your base, you're already dead.

* UEF Aegis: Experimental Shield Generator: A large bubble shield that covers an entire base. The shield has high health, but if knocked down it has to be manually recharged at a high energy cost.

* UEF Super Triton: Experimental Dreadnought: This ultra-battleship is bristling with humongous cannons but is only able to fire a medium distance, unlike the regular Battleship which has a long range. These weapons do extreme damage, but having to get close enough to use them is its weakness.

* UEF Jackhammer: Experimental Assault Artillery: This hulking, direct fire ‘cannon on wheels’ drives up to an enemy base and must unpack before firing. Once it unpacks it gains advanced defense (like hunker) reducing damage taken and allowing it to fire. The primary cannon has a slow rate of fire, with a long charge up, but does incredible damage (potentially knocking down multiple shields with a single shot)

* UEF Field Engineer: Mobile Repair and Support Unit: The UEF Mobile Repair and Support unit is a mobile engineer that has a basic direct fire turret as well as a repair arm. It is unable to build new structures, reclaim or capture, so its strength lies in its ability to accompany and quickly repair nearby allied units.

* UEF Research Converter: Research Conversion Facility: This structure provides the option to generate Research directly from accumulated mass. It is highly inefficient, but produces an instant boost to research.

* Illuminate Sooprizer: Experimental Gunship: The Illuminate Mega-Gunship offers a devastating direct-fire alternative to the Darkenoid. It does not have any anti-air capabilities focusing on ground based damage and increased survivability against surface threats.

* Illuminate Illuminator: Experimental Intel Gathering Station: The Overhorizon Radar provides flawless Vision and Radar in a huge radius. However, it has a tremendous energy cost to activate, and a long cooldown period.

* Illuminate Buhbledow: Experimental Shield Destroyer: The Shield Smasher is a ballistic EMP missile designed to knock down all enemy shields in a wide area. It has a long enough range that it can cover most of the map. The blast does insignificant damage to structures and units.

* Illuminate Shotja: Sniper Bot: The sniper unit is a medium ranged, mobile hover unit. It has a single, high damage shot with a long cooldown. Its weakness is its low rate of fire and slow movement speed.

* Cybran Recycler: Mass Reclaimer: Similar to the Loyalty Gun, the Mass Reclaimer has a medium range and automatically reclaims nearby wreckage. It is unable to reclaim living units, however.

* Cybran Cicada: Experimental Cloak Generator: The Cicada is a mobile mini-experimental that, when activated, hides all units nearby from both vision and radar. This makes the units completely invisible to an opponent. The Cicada has a high energy cost which lasts for less than a minute before recharging. The complex unit lacks only the ability to cloak itself while in operation.

* Cybran Intellitron: Air Scout: Lightly armored and unarmed, but with advanced vision and radar. Allows for quickly scouting remote areas of the map. Very fast to outrun anti-air.

***** OMG THIS IS SO AWESOME!!! *****
* Cybran Boomerang: Nuclear Missile Defense: This structure is placed in a base to defend against nukes. When incoming nukes get in range, they are reprogrammed and sent back to their origin. It has a low rate of fire and can be overwhelmed. Redirected nukes spoof enemy Anti-Nukes, making this a deadly structure to overlook when scouting for Nuke targets.

Research Boosts/Upgrades

* Research is focused on diversifying the factions while maintaining each faction's identity.

UEF

* Upgrade: Naval Transportation
o This naval tree upgrade allows experimental transports to carry naval units.

* Upgrade: Speed overdrive
o This short duration ability gives select land units a burst of speed for an energy cost.

* Boost: ACU Veterancy Rate Increase
* Boost: Structure Build cost for ACU: decreases cost of structures for ACU.
* Boost: Structure Regeneration

Illuminate

* Upgrade - Tank Torpedo weapon
o Adds a torpedo weapon to the Illuminate tank, allowing it to hit submarines or other naval units from a distance while on water.

* Upgrade: Structure Sacrifice
o Adds an ability to all structures, allowing it to be sacrificed. When sacrificed, all units nearby are instantly healed.

* Upgrade: Amphibious Structures
o Nearly all ground structures can now be built on water.

* Upgrade: Air Teleport
o Adds an ability for air units to teleport short distances.

* Boost: Air Health II

Cybran

* Upgrade - Naval Jump Jets
o The Cybran navy gets even more amazing with the Naval Jump Jet upgrade. At the end of the tree and incredibly costly, this upgrade allows Cybran Naval units to traverse any terrain with ease.

* Upgrade - Vision persistence on Long Range Artillery
o This upgrade adds a vision radius to long range artillery shells. When a shell impacts the ground or a shield, it leaves behind a small vision ring, allowing you to see into the enemy base.

* Boost - ACU Increased Build Rate
* Boost - Air Build Time reduction

no map editor/creator, huh?

Didn't see one. :/ The new map that I tried was pretty cool, it's alot like one of the original SC maps. One big island and water all around.

I got the upgrade installed and played a mission with it. Some pretty useful additions in there. Like you can now sell Mass for research points with a Research refinery. Makes upgrading your research tree MUCH faster. Gonna have to play around it and see if it pays off.